Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

January 2007 issue

Northernmost New Zealand

My wife, Carole, and I took a 2-week trip to New Zealand in March ’06. We spent most of our time north of Auckland, especially in the Doubtless Bay area. This area received its name from Captain Cook, who when he passed by wrote in his ship’s log, “Doubtless there is a bay.”

Our main stay was at the Beach Lodge (Box 190, Mangonui, Far North 0557, North Island, N.Z.; phone/fax 64-9-406 0068 or visit www.beachlodge.co.nz), operated by Margaret Morrison, who moved to the area 16 years ago. She has six deluxe units right on the beach. Ours had a full kitchen and two bedrooms and was...

September 2008 issue

Unwind on Jeju Island

Jeju, a tiny island paradise just 55 miles south of mainland Korea, is a paragon of peaceful relaxation. Truly away from the madding crowd, it is a place where anyone can simply listen to the quiet. Many couples choose to honeymoon there.

My husband and I stayed at the Jungmun Resort Complex on the southern coast. The area encompasses several 5-star hotels, all with spas, plus a botanical garden, Pacific Land (similar to Sea World), the International Conference Center, the Sound Island Museum (play the piano with your feet there) and spectacular seawalls that traverse cliffs to...

June 2008 issue

Airport Q Ratings

Here is the first batch of readers’ Q Ratings of international airports — plus, as you’ll see, a few revisions in the instructions which will make the tallies more useful. The goal is to generate an idea of the comparative wait times at airports.

To recap, with Q Ratings a perfect score is zero, meaning there were no lines to wait in. The next time you pass through an international airport (even one in the U.S.), for each queue/line you have to stand in — for check-in, tax payments, security screening, boarding, Customs — subtract a point. The DQ is for a departure and the AQ, an...

February 2007 issue

Disappointed on QM2

This letter deals with a cruise to Mexico and Hawaii, areas that ITN does not cover, however the ports are not at matter but the ship itself, which makes voyages around the world. — Editor

My wife, Marge, and I took two back-to-back cruises on Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2: Los Angeles-Ensenada-Los Angeles, Feb. 22-25, 2006, and Los Angeles-Honolulu-Lahaina-Kona-Ensenada-Los Angeles, Feb. 25-March 8. The costs for our Category B hull balcony cabin were $2,657 for the three days and $5,071 for the 11 days.

We regret to report that the accountants at parent company Carnival...

August 2007 issue

Travelex came through despite Alitalia’s silence

As my wife, Jeanell, and I were planning a trip to England and Italy in October ’06 connecting with a cruise, we felt we should have medical insurance. I had read in ITN (April ’06, pg. 54 & Aug. ’06, pg. 57) about Travelex Insurance Services (Box 641070, Omaha, NE 68164-7070; 800/228-9792, www.travelex-insurance.com), so I went online and contacted the agent Alan (alan@travelinsurance center.com).

Alan was very helpful and provided a policy through Travelex that covered both medical and baggage insurance at a very reasonable rate. Within a few days we received a policy and...

January 2008 issue

Visits Britain

I am an arthritic, 6'3", 75-year-old who returned from a 3-week trip to Britain on Sept. 19, 2007.

I find it well worth the additional cost to upgrade to British Air’s World Traveler Plus section (coach-plus) — much more seat and legroom. They often offer special rates to their frequent flyers.

British Air also offers online seat and boarding pass choices 24 hours prior to one’s flight. It is a godsend to miss the huge lines at New York’s JFK and Heathrow, as one can just walk up to the separate bag-drop counters.

For the first part of my visit I attended the annual...

July 2007 issue

Doesn’t trust room safes

Murray Halbert’s tale of theft from his room safe at Angkor Wat (May ’07, pg. 41) resonated painfully with me, as something eerily similar happened while I was staying in a not-so-wonderful, smallish hotel in Bangkok in December ’06. I have made use of those in-room electronic safes on several occasions, a habit that I am determined to shed from now on.

A hotel room safe is no more secure than the management or any of the personnel is honest. In fact, it is something of a sitting duck — obvious and easy to open quickly, either with an override key or code.

The best course of...

September 2008 issue

Coral World, near Eilat

South of Eilat, Israel, Coral World Underwater Observatory & Aquarium (phone 08/636-4200 or visit www.coralworld.com), off Derech Mitzraim, is a “must see.” The viewing windows are 20 feet below water level and you can see whatever is swimming by at the moment. There are also very interesting permanent exhibits. (Entry to park and oceanarium, ILS94 [$22] adult, ILS84 child.)

Nearby Coral Beach is excellent for snorkeling. We saw parrotfish, a gray moray and many colorful reef fish. We were surprised by the temperature of the water; it was quite cold and we could stay in the...